jon81uk
TS Member
Would you choose to drive all the way to Alton just for a Christmas market? There are plenty already in nearby towns (Birmingham has one of the largest in the UK) so I just don't see it being a draw given how remote Alton is.
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What changes to operations should we expect post Covid-19?
- Thread starter Croftybaby
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Would you choose to drive all the way to Alton just for a Christmas market? There are plenty already in nearby towns (Birmingham has one of the largest in the UK) so I just don't see it being a draw given how remote Alton is.
I wouldn’t expect anything from Merlin this year. They would have to spend months doing market research and seeing if it’s feasible. I really don’t expect them to do something out the blue. I reckon they will open the parks for 2/3 months while trying to push to get the midways open.
Why do people drive to Chatsworth? It's a bit closer to Sheffield than Alton Towers is to Stoke, but not by much in the grand scheme of things.
It's a nice place to go and a day out at a time of year when people don't tend to do touristy things quite so much.
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ThisIsTheWay
TS Member
as the gov furlough thing ends at the end of June, if parks cant open by then where are all the staff going to go. when they do open there will be no employees left.
I cant envision Merlin paying staff to sit at home in the hopes they may be open in September
dreamland has made alot of their staff redundant due to not being able to open after then end of June
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/202...tices-and-decision-not-to-reopen-this-summer/
I cant envision Merlin paying staff to sit at home in the hopes they may be open in September
dreamland has made alot of their staff redundant due to not being able to open after then end of June
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/202...tices-and-decision-not-to-reopen-this-summer/
Islander
TS Member
Nope, any employed before the government's cutoff date were Furloughed (as after all, no skin of Merlin's back as it's government money).
How do you social distance in-between the rides, ie walking from rides to rides and different areas, exiting the rides as well as when you are standing in the queue line and you either have someone overtaking you to queue jump or someone wanting to leave the queue line (especially if the ride breaks down) and wants to pass by you counter flow?
In China, there have reduce social distancing to 1 meter, and here is how they are tackling the 1 meter rule
In China, there have reduce social distancing to 1 meter, and here is how they are tackling the 1 meter rule
DistortAMG
TS Member
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- POTC Disneyland Paris
You see. Given the state of things here and looking back at history. I think it is almost inevitable that will will get a second spike, with the potential to be bigger than the first. This will totally throw theme park plans out the window. I guess we will have to see.
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Matt N
TS Member
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Countries that have eased restrictions so far have not seen a second wave; Germany's R0 number is still only at 0.74, and the Czech Republic and Denmark have also not seen a second wave. Both of these have been easing restrictions for close to a month now.
There is also China, which has most things open again and has pretty much eradicated it in the community. Their social distancing efforts have been eased for a while now.
The reason why Spanish Flu's second wave struck so severely was because it was towards the end of the war, when attempting social distancing would have been harmful to Britain's war effort, so nothing was done. By comparison, social distancing was put into place for when the third wave struck and that was nowhere near as bad as the previous two, so provided we keep social distancing in place to some degree, then I think a devastating second wave will be prevented.
DistortAMG
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I would take most things you 'see' in China with a pinch of salt. We only really see what the CCP want us to see in regards to the COVID-19 in China.
Germany, Denmark and Czeck also have had far far lower deaths and infections that what we have had here in the UK. So what they are doing cannot really be compared to what could happen here. When countries such as the ones you mention have overall been affected much much less by COVID than what we have. It is hardly surprising they haven't had a second wave.
Places like the UK and Italy for that matter. Risk having a second wave that could be more deadly if lockdown restrictions are eased to quickly. This will want to be avoided at all cost. This is why I suspect theme parks and other leisure places will be quite far off the list right now. As those sort of gatherings are the exact thing that could encourage a second wave. This country has been hit quite hard. So what other countries are doing is not necessarily what we will do, as we will need to act differently due to the severity of what has been happening here.
I hope I am wrong because I want to ride Nemesis as much as the next person. But I cant see it personally.
Germany, Denmark and Czeck also have had far far lower deaths and infections that what we have had here in the UK. So what they are doing cannot really be compared to what could happen here. When countries such as the ones you mention have overall been affected much much less by COVID than what we have. It is hardly surprising they haven't had a second wave.
Places like the UK and Italy for that matter. Risk having a second wave that could be more deadly if lockdown restrictions are eased to quickly. This will want to be avoided at all cost. This is why I suspect theme parks and other leisure places will be quite far off the list right now. As those sort of gatherings are the exact thing that could encourage a second wave. This country has been hit quite hard. So what other countries are doing is not necessarily what we will do, as we will need to act differently due to the severity of what has been happening here.
I hope I am wrong because I want to ride Nemesis as much as the next person. But I cant see it personally.
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I know people are desperate to see the parks open but what you said is the reality of the situation. It’s not being negative it’s being realistic right now. Any place no matter what it is if it involves a large group of people in one area then you have no chance of opening for a while. They already said they want to avoid large groups in one area for the time being. So fine not a problem the park can introduce measures to help social distancing. But what about outside the park all those people waiting outside the gates waiting to go in are they going to respect social distancing? People on the monorail all together etc. These are the things that make it a high risk at the moment. I want to see the parks open as much as anyway but I’d rather it open when it safe too not just open for the sake of it.
Islander
TS Member
This is a non-argument really - "outside the park" is still part of the park, any Admissions area will also be included in a park's considerations when it comes to social distancing. You don't see Sainsbury's saying "we are limiting the number of people in our stores, 1-in 1-out... but eh, what you do outside the store entrance is up to you".
As for the Monorail, if anything that's one of the easiest rides to enforce social distancing on - one family unit per section.
DistortAMG
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Basically all this talk of what the park could do to mitigate the risk is hot water. I dont think the government will allow parks to open for a while. No chance. Not with how hard the UK has been hit. It would be very irresponsible for our government to allow parks to open any time soon.
You cannot put all these measures on distancing in place at the park. Then put people on rides. Even if spaced further apart. No matter where you are in the coaster train you will physically be in the same space another person further up the train was seconds later Making all the measures in place absolutely useless.
You cannot put all these measures on distancing in place at the park. Then put people on rides. Even if spaced further apart. No matter where you are in the coaster train you will physically be in the same space another person further up the train was seconds later Making all the measures in place absolutely useless.
Ive been seeing so much on Facebook and twitter of people convinced the parks will and must be open before July. I’ve learnt to not argue with them and leave them in wonderland. Unfortunately just because you can social distance don’t mean it’s still a safe place to go yet. In time the parks will reopen I ain’t looking about any parks around the world after country has been hit differently with this virus and we do things completely different to how other countries are doing things. The government don’t want large groups of people in one place what’s so hard to understand about that.
DistortAMG
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Exactly. You hit the nail on the head.
Our country will work differently to how other countries work, based on the pretty severe situation we have had. When they start to ease lockdown, the number one priority will be to prevent a second wave at all costs.
That basically puts all leisure places out the window for a while. People get complacent when out doing leisure activities like theme parks, football matches ect, and can forget rules at the best of times. Plus, even with social distancing, due to the very nature of a theme park, the risks are higher.
We've been hit hard. We have a very real risk of a second wave, alot more so than other places. That puts things we enjoy a long long way off yet. Even with social distancing. It's a large crowd of people inside a park who don't really need to be there. Not right now.
I understand people are wishful thinking they will open soon. But unless our government was grossly irresponsible. It will not happen.
Our country will work differently to how other countries work, based on the pretty severe situation we have had. When they start to ease lockdown, the number one priority will be to prevent a second wave at all costs.
That basically puts all leisure places out the window for a while. People get complacent when out doing leisure activities like theme parks, football matches ect, and can forget rules at the best of times. Plus, even with social distancing, due to the very nature of a theme park, the risks are higher.
We've been hit hard. We have a very real risk of a second wave, alot more so than other places. That puts things we enjoy a long long way off yet. Even with social distancing. It's a large crowd of people inside a park who don't really need to be there. Not right now.
I understand people are wishful thinking they will open soon. But unless our government was grossly irresponsible. It will not happen.
The government wants to avoid that second wave so badly. This is what people need to understand unfortunately yes 2020 is a write off but it can’t be helped. You can’t just open parks because it seems safe. It takes time and we only start coming out of lockdown in Juneish time you are talking many months to see how the virus is. Any place where you have x amount of thousands no matter how spread apart you are is still a risk it only takes one person and then it’s starting again.
